Interior demolition in York (Toronto)
The old City of York is 1910s and 1920s brick semis with plaster and lath, many converted to apartments and now being turned back. That tells us what the walls are made of and how many layers of floor are waiting under the carpet. Interior demolition is the house gutted and the shell left standing, the first trade on any whole-house renovation.
York (Toronto), on the ground.
Whole-house gut-outs, legal-suite basement strip-outs and main-floor structural openings are the usual York calls. Dust walls up, the stair protected, every finish and partition out, and the joists and studs swept and photographed at handover.
Read more about demolition in York (Toronto) or the full interior demolition service page.
On the ticket.
Whole-house containment: dust walls, sealed HVAC, protected stair and exterior doors
Water and power isolated by licensed trades; services to stay marked and protected
Drywall, plaster and lath, ceilings, insulation, flooring and underlayment out
Kitchens, bathrooms, closets, built-ins, doors and trim removed
Non-structural partitions out; load-bearing walls left or removed under the structural scope
Nails pulled, joists and studs swept, photos of every room at handover
Paper first.
Gutting a house is non-structural and usually needs no permit; the renovation that follows does, and any load-bearing wall needs an engineer. Toronto Building issues the permit; the former City of York has had no separate office since 1998.
- Gutting a house to the studs is non-structural and usually needs no demolition permit. The renovation that follows needs a building permit.
- Any load-bearing wall, stair or floor opening is structural: permit, engineer's drawing and temporary shoring.
- Pre-1990 houses: a designated-substances survey comes first (O. Reg. 278/05). Plaster, floor tile, vermiculite and pipe insulation are the usual finds.
- Multi-unit conversions and second suites need a building permit and, in some municipalities, zoning approval before the finish goes in.
The plates on every truck: WSIB, insurance, demolition permits, asbestos survey, utility locates, crew training.
| Driver | What we look at |
|---|---|
| Floor area and storeys | Square footage over every floor coming out. |
| Walls and floors | Plaster and lath and three layers of flooring take longer than drywall and one. |
| Access | Hand-carry to a street bin adds labour on every load. |
| Bins and tipping | Bin count by weight. |
| Permit and utility locates | Whether a permit applies and whether we book the locates. |
The number comes from a site walk. Plaster and lath, three layers of flooring and hand-carry to a street bin move it up; the walk accounts for all three.
Not for the strip-out if nothing structural comes out. The renovation that follows needs a building permit from the City of Toronto (Toronto Building).
About a week for a typical two-storey with a crew, less for a bungalow, more where there is plaster and lath. [Kam confirms.]
Sometimes, with dust walls and a separate exit. Noise and vibration are the real issue. We tell you honestly at the site walk whether it works.